Querrey – Fritz

Sam Querrey and Taylor Fritz will square off Wednesday morning (European time) in the second round at the ATP Masters event in Shanghai, played outdoors on hard courts.

Querrey had a very disappointing spell in the US Summer hard court season, with first and second round exits and injuries. However, after the US Open he has been a different player. Querrey started his post – US Open campaign with a huge win in Davis Cup over Cilic, a win which could have given the USA a place in the final, but it was not to be. He continued with a solid QF showing at Chengdu (lost to Fritz), then lost in the first round in Beijing to Khachanov. Here in Shanghai he got a solid win in the first round against Schwartzman, 6-3 6-4.

Fritz had one of the best tournaments of his career a few weeks ago in Chengdu where he reached the semifinals (def. Querrey, lost badly to Fognini), but other than that his recent results were not very impressive – he passed the 2nd round at an ATP event just twice since May! Here in Shanghai Fritz did well to pass qualifications (def Zeballos and Klizan) and defeated Haase in the first round, but to be honest the opponents were very accessible. Even so, Fritz had some problems against Klizan (three sets) and Haase (63 76, Haase looked the better player before the 2nd set tiebreak).

The H2H is 2-1 for Fritz (all meetings on outdoor hard), and he actually won the last two meetings, both this year. He won in a deciding set tiebreak at Delray Beach, and won 7-6 7-5 just a few weeks ago in Chengdu.

Even though Fritz won both meetings this year, they were very tight victories, and they both came in some of the best tournaments Fritz had this season. The one a few weeks ago was in arguably the second best tournament of Fritz’s career, and Querrey still could have won that with a bit more luck on his side.

This time Fritz did not look particularly sharp over the last few days. He is playing well and his three wins were solid, but he met average opposition, he was expected to win those matches, and he faced trouble against Klizan and Haase.

Querrey won against a stronger opponent than what Fritz met, and he did it in style, leaving Schwartzman with no chance in the first round. Big Sam is a big game player with plenty of experience in Masters events, and he will look to use that to his advantage.

After a couple of narrow losses against a Taylor Fritz who played some of his best tennis in those matches, Querrey should be able to get one back here. He looks sharp, while Fritz doesn`t seem to be quite in the zone, even if he`s playing well. It won`t be easy, but Big Sam should be a bigger favorite than what the odds suggest. I feel 6 units should be a high enough stake on this bet, maybe 7 if you feel like pushing it. Prediction: Sam Querrey – Taylor Fritz 7-6 7-6.